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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · cell · content · craft · ground · chest · wind · snap

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rule — a law
  4. content — happy
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. snap — to click
  11. craft — a skill
  12. craft — boats
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cell — in biology
  15. ground — crushed
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cell — a phone
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. chest — of your body
  22. content — the amount
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. rule — government

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com